Colorado is one of the most strategically important aerospace states in the nation, employing 165,000+ workers and anchored by Lockheed Martin Space, United Launch Alliance, and over 200 space companies along the Denver-Boulder corridor. With US Space Force headquarters in Colorado Springs and Ball Aerospace building instruments for the James Webb Space Telescope, Colorado sits at the center of American space power.
From GPS satellites to missile warning systems, Colorado's aerospace companies build the space infrastructure that the entire modern world depends on every single day.
Lockheed Martin Space
Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton is one of the most important satellite and spacecraft manufacturing sites in the world, building GPS satellites, missile warning systems, and deep space probes for NASA and the US military. Lockheed employs over 10,000 people at its Colorado Space division — the state's single largest aerospace employer.
United Launch Alliance
ULA is headquartered in Centennial and manufactures the Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur rockets, building launch vehicles that deploy national security and commercial satellites. ULA has successfully completed over 155 consecutive launches — a perfect mission success record — and its Colorado engineering campus is the heart of American launch vehicle manufacturing.
Ball Aerospace
Ball Aerospace designs and builds some of the most advanced optical and scientific instruments ever sent to space, including instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope and the GOES-R weather satellite series. Ball employs over 5,000 engineers and technicians in Boulder, making it the city's largest employer.
